In
between the intermittent bursts of sunshine and raindrops, I have managed to
get my steps in, and take some photos as well.
Woo hoo, considering how most
mornings are about as gray and gloomy as it gets.

So,
while my recent cute-and-fuzzy gosling shots are adorable, the rest of the
feathered and furry clan of critters are clamoring for equal time in this
forum. Well okay, I guess I can’t blame
them for that.

This Red Red Robin is not bobbin’, but sittin’ on a nest.

I wonder if it’s the same Robin as last year? Last Spring she built a nest on a low branch. While I didn’t have a bird’s eye view of the happenings inside the nest, on a daily basis I monitored Mama Robin first incubating the eggs and then attending to her hatchlings. We, (Mama Robin and I) even fended off the Red-Winged Blackbird who tried to rob the nest twice while I was right there – once when there were eggs and Mama Robin was off hunting for her breakfast and the next time when Mama was off to get fast food (worms and grubs) for the hatchlings. I raised my voice and waved my arms around to get that bully bird to leave and Mama returned to investigate what the commotion was all about. I watched as she chattered and used her body to knock that large blackbird away from the nest. It was incredible to watch Robin versus Red-Winged Blackbird. The bully bird finally flew off, not successful in his robbery attempt, and Mama Robin was still shook up. I swear I saw her heart pounding behind that bright-red breast. My heart was thumping too Mama.

So, this is a more secluded spot for the Robin nursery, but not an ideal spot for me to monitor – maybe once the chicks poke their beaks into the air?

I’ll keep waiting and watching for the hatchlings’ arrival.

I’ve got swagger and I’m struttin’ my stuff!

And,
speak of the Devil, just look at this Red-Winged Blackbird. He has been hanging around all the squirrels’
favorite feeding spots along the perimeter path. He gets pretty animated, hopping from branch
to branch when I come along with my bag of peanuts. From his perch in the tree, he will
strategize how best to land onto the path and snatch a treat from under the
squirrels’ noses, if I don’t favor him with a peanut first.

We
usually trade glances, and then he’ll hop to a lower branch to ensure that I
see him.

Oh,
I will see him alright, but … just in case, he’ll erupt into song. I love the trill of the Red-Winged
Blackbird.

He
knows he’s caught my eye, so down he goes to the path in a purposeful strut to
retrieve the peanut that me, the sucker, just left for him.

The squirrels are still my favorite Park critters with their fun-loving antics.

As
you may know the entire perimeter path is two miles long and shaped like a
figure eight with the pavilion separating each one-mile loop. There are certain spots that are woodsier
than others and thus the squirrels congregate there.

Of course, that doesn’t stop Parker from greeting me at the pavilion area to be first in line for peanuts. My furry pals have got their meet-and-greet-and-pleading-eyes-ritual down pat and one day I fully expect one of them to point to their rumbling tummy … yes, it’s all about them sometimes.

So
what’s a few peanuts between friends anyway?

The
sun was so welcome and it was definitely
a good shadow day – look at Parker checking out his shadow.

This
squirrel was gnawing on peanuts from a prior benefactor – all of a sudden he
was in awe of something. Well … a peanut
for your thoughts Sweetie.

I am sure this peanut pal wanted to ensure I didn’t miss him in case I sprinted over to see the goslings like last week when I bypassed all my furry friends in favor of my feathery friends. I chuckled to myself when I saw this squirrel, eager to impress me in an effort to glean extra peanuts by pretending he was a Meerkat. Yup, I went right over to him and he got those desired peanuts and I told him “my, look how tall you are!” He stood there like that for the longest time and I’m sure he’ll try this stunt over and over again.

And now the swan song for today’s post.

In this parade of “wild things” finally there is the elegant Mute Swan which graces this post’s header image and takes my breath away any time one silently glides down the center of the narrow Ecorse Creek. I was ogling the gaggle of goslings, when suddenly I heard a hard thunk onto the surface of the Creek not far from me. Startled, my head swiveled around as I wondered what in the world had swooped in with such a hard landing? I knew it had to be a swan since Canada geese announce their arrival to their brethren, (or sometimes just to hear themselves honk … I’ve got them all figured out, believe me). A Mute Swan is generally twice as large as a Canada Goose and a good 15 pounds heavier.

This graceful Mute Swan flew down from the sky, making a rather clumsy splash down, but quickly composed itself upon hitting the surface.

I was mesmerized by this swan’s glide down the center of the Creek. What a treat to behold this lovely creature so close-up. I watched its slender neck dipping into the murky water of the Creek to nibble some aquatic plants, or simply enjoy a sip of water.

That swan owned the Ecorse Creek as no other waterfowl were in the water at that time.

Every so often it paused to preen.

It
was the perfect end to this walk on the wild side.

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About Linda Schaub

This is my first blog and I enjoy writing each and every post immensely. I started a walking regimen in 2011 and decided to create a blog as a means of memorializing the people, places and things I see on my daily walks. I have always enjoyed people watching, and so my blog is peppered with folks I meet, or reflections of characters I have known through the years. Often something piques my interest, or evokes a pleasant memory from my memory bank, so this becomes a “slice o’ life” blog post that day. I respect and appreciate nature and my interaction with Mother Nature’s gifts is also a common theme. Sometimes the most-ordinary items become fodder for points to ponder over and touch upon. My career has been in the legal field and I have been a legal secretary for four decades, primarily working in downtown Detroit, and now working from my home. I graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in print journalism in 1978, though I’ve never worked in that field. I like to think this blog is the writer in me finally emerging!! Walking and writing have met and shaken hands and the creative juices are flowing once again in Walkin’, Writin’, Wit & Whimsy – hope you think so too. - Linda Schaub

68 Responses to The Rain, the Park and…

Sweet shots, Linda! What a most beautiful day it was today! 🙂 I installed decorative motion detector lights on our house, took photos by the river, then pulled weeds by the river bank. The Canada Geese on the river were delightedly loud and seemed to be communicating something serious. Hopefully, we’ll get more perfect weather days like this in the future! 🙂

Thanks Tom – glad you liked them. I had a difficult time coming back into the house to go to work after such a sunny and beautiful morning. I heard the weatherman say that this big cloud cover that has been stalled over most of the Midwest for the past month is finally on its way out and warmer and sunnier weather are on the way – fingers crossed they are right.

Loved the swan pictures – such a beautiful graceful creature. I remember the song, The Rain the Park and Other Things – by the Cowsills – who also sang Indian Lake, which I still have on my summer playlist. Finally a nice day to rejoice in!

It was a gorgeous day and we’ll have today and tomorrow, morning only, for sunshine, rain in the afternoon and now rain Friday and Saturday (Saturday in the morning) … critters are out more in the morning and disappear in the afternoon, so I’ll do picture taking and my longer walks Sunday I guess. Glad you liked the swan pictures – they are so beautiful and grace looking. I wonder how many others caught that reference to the Cowsills song? I was originally going to use the song by the Trogs that has the line “wild thing I think I love you!” I thought people would think I was weird. 🙂

I’m going to come back and read that post Joni … I like the old music and every morning on my radio station they give a rundown of birthdays of singers and celebrities … it seems I never know anybody anymore … that is until they give the death dates on this day in history. It’s a little sobering to be sure!

Yes, and he has a military look to him with those “epaulets” doesn’t he Andy? There is a local bird photographer and I recently started following her on Twitter. She has videos of herself hand feeding a Red-Winged Blackbird and a Woodpecker. I would never have thought those types of birds would eat from a person’s outstretched palm … one look at that Blackbird’s beak!

I didn’t know that Andy and thanks for passing that info along. I often see swans, more at a distance though, and only a handful of times since I began walking there in May of 2013 have I seen one that up close.

seeing and hearing the Swan must of made for a exciting moment Linda! I wish our Swans were half as friendly! Yours have gotten use to humans,but ours hardly ever see them….usually me!
Park Swans and wild Swans two totally different creatures.

Than swan was absolutely gorgeous and really up close Wayne. I can’t tell you what a big noise it made when it splashed down – I looked it up and they run about 30 pounds so there were water droplets everywhere! I wish it would have announced its arrival like the geese do and I caught it landing on the surface. It was so peaceful watching it. This was the day I saw all the goslings, the robin mom, the funny squirrels and that blackbird … I was in nature nirvana. It’s a beautiful morning today too – maybe I’ll be lucky today as well!

I’m going to see how I did when I finish up here when I upload the photos. It was another nature nirvana morning – three sets of goslings now and one group were very small. And a heron for the first time in a while.

I’m going to have to look at them tomorrow. I got a lot of fresh air, ran around Park several times with the camera this morning and am nodding off so I’ll be happy to see how they look in the morning – I’ve had 300 on a weekend. I was clicking away this morning – 1,000 wow! I want to look at the photos before I go out tomorrow as I may go back there again … sunny again tomorrow, then the gray and rainy days return. The goslings grow up too fast if I wait too long!

Your walks are a wonder to behold. Mama robin has her wings full with that mean blackbird. I love the photo of the squirrel wherein his shadowy silhouette is beside him. Reminds me of the child’s song, Little Sir Echo [if you happen to remember/know it]. And the swan is beautiful. I rarely see them in our parks.

Thanks Ally – I really enjoy these walks, especially now that (I think) Spring is finally here. Though you can’t tell, this park is right in the middle of a residential area. I usually take pictures of the opposite side, but one side is houses all along the outside of this park. This morning I went there and there were three geese families, so I took a ton of pictures. The mother robin’s babies hatched and she and her mate were feeding them worms. So I hope I captured all those images well – I am going to upload the pictures and see how I did after I finish up here. That swan was very close. I see them occasionally, but not that close-up. Except when one got out of the water and chased after me when I was taking pictures of it. It was huge – I thought I’d be climbing up on a park bench, but I tossed it some peanuts and got out of Dodge (of course I had to take some pictures for that day’s post first). It was a glorious day for a walk. As to the squirrel and his shadow, I have never heard that song and I remember you said the other day when you did the rubber plant post you were in a chorale group as a youngster – maybe you sang it? But I grew up in Canada, so perhaps we had different kids’ songs. I found a rendition by Bing Crosby – very nice: https://youtu.be/pHmfEJWYJt8

Bing is singing the song much more slowly than we kids did. I remember it because when it came to the chorus of “hello, hello” the girls would sing one “hello” and then the boys would sing the other “hello.” It was silly fun.

Yes, in between the rain drops and now that it is finally a little warmer instead of those 35 to 40 degree mornings, I’ll consider walking in the rain now that I bought waterproof shoes and a pair of rain boots.

I don’t know what got into that squirrel – I guess he has a better vantage point to see peanuts, but it cracked me up as well – he does look like a meerkat!

Glad you liked them Mackenzie – and glad the photos gave you a smile to ease that stressful morning. That relaxing effects of the time off from school wears off so quickly once you’re thrown back into the hectic regimen again.

Yes, they do – I hope I don’t have to use them but … they are there. Sorry to hear the semester is a doozy for you – how much longer do you have Mackenzie? And now DJ will soon be beginning his grad school ordeal – sigh. It is all worth it in the end though. I have to get my pics together – I took 297 at the Park on Wednesday and went to a different park looking for ducklings yesterday and took another hundred or so … we had stormy weather last night and will have some tonight and over the weekend so I may not get to a post for a couple of days … need to pick through these pics to get the cutest ones!

Oh, you do have a long journey ahead of you – I was thinking you’d be done and DJ would be slogging through school. You are ambitious though – you’ll look back on this one day and say “how did I do it?” It will be worth it in the long run.

We are having a storm tonight but severe weather, two rounds of that on Sunday afternoon and evening. I’m a weather worrier so already thinking about it. Otherwise I’ll try and get out and walk in between. And do the post with the cute baby pics.

I cannot get over how many storms you all are getting. Hopefully it hasn’t been too bad… or hopefully you aren’t dealing with it now considering it is Sunday evening. Can’t wait to see those pics if the weather permitted!

It will be worth it in the end for both of you. It is hard to go back to school once you are done and in the working world – so you both made that commitment to go back and further your education and that is admirable.

I don’t understand all this stormy and erratic weather either. We had a torrential rain for 45 minutes yesterday mid-afternoon, and I had just gotten home from walking when it started to drizzle. It did that off and on, then this torrential rain happened. We did not get the severe weather last night because it fizzled out because it cooled down but I waited before going to bed as they said be prepared to go to the basement as this 60 mph wind was fast moving and going eastward and if it happened it would be between 10:00 p.m. and midnight. We got to 80 degrees and when I was walking at Elizabeth Park it was hot and humid like an August day. I was way overdressed and couldn’t remove any clothing – I usually wear layers but yesterday I had just a light sweatsuit on. There was an E-0 tornado touched down I think near Richmond or Marysville and wind gusts to 60 mph. I’m hearing the long holiday weekend may be iffy weather as well.

Good for you (and mama Robin) for fending off the robber bird! I didn’t know red-winged blackbirds would steal eggs from another nest. Today I was mulching (again!) and trimming bushes. I found a nest in one bush, so I was careful not to trim the branches it was sitting on. The nest was a robin’s nest and there was a snakeskin woven into the twigs. I never saw that before!

That Red-Winged Blackbird was amazing – he wouldn’t let up and the Robin, who was much smaller, kept knocking her body against him to leave. I saw a Red-Winged Blackbird fly down and peck a mother goose who was leading her goslings out of the water. He just went into attack mode for no reason – she was not hissing at him or flapping her wings. That is amazing about the snakeskin – those nests are made very sturdily and they pack them with mud and I’ve never figured out how they did that. I was lucky with the swan getting so close to me – such a beautiful bird. I hope you see eggs and babies hatching – you and your grandsons will love it!

I have been following a photographer on Facebook for several years. When I use stock photos, especially at the holidays, I go on Pixabay and use Jill Wellington’s photos After several years, I discovered she is from Saginaw, Michigan about 100 miles from me. Anyway, besides being a portrait photographer, Jill takes a lot of flower pictures, flowering trees too. Last year she discovered a robin’s nest in a tree and wanted to get a picture of it and used a selfie stick on her smart phone and got a great picture of the eggs. I looked on her Facebook site to show you, but it is not searchable. (https://www.facebook.com/jillwellingtonphotography/)
That’s an idea for you Laurie – it worked well for Jill. She is very nice. I once used three of her pictures in one blog post at Christmastime and sent her the post. She posted it which was nice. She was a TV reporter and when she retired, her husband bought her a camera. She was blogging about her kids through the years and started adding photos and took more photos – not a professional photographer. She is one year younger than me and we share the same birthday.

Those blackbirds actually stalk the perimeter path for peanuts and will steal them in a heartbeat. I took a lot of photos yesterday which I’l make into a post on the weekend, and I must have taken ten of him on the path intercepting peanuts from the squirrel(s). Got a funny shot of a cardinal with a huge peanut that is almost as big as his head.

I like looking at Jill’s pictures. She has a local model she uses and Jill likes vintage clothing, so she gets accessories and dresses for “Vintage Val” and takes her walking through various garden locales near where she lives. Hope you can get it a photo of the eggs by leaning out your window. The birds do love the peanuts and I have a picture I took Wednesday of a cardinal holding a peanut in its beak and the peanut is as big as its head! This morning on the path I had a blackbird, cardinal and a blue jay.

There is an oriole who keeps singing behind our house. We hear him while we are working in the yard, but I have only caught a brief glimpse of him and Bill hasn’t seen him at all. We can just hear him singing away!

Nice photos of the robin in the nest. I have a robin sitting in a nest on four blue eggs by my back porch. I’m not sure I’ll get a good photo because she has the nest pretty well protected by vine branches. I’m glad you had a beautiful day to take photos of the birds and squirrels.

Thanks Rebecca – last year I had a better view as she built her nest on a low branch. The eggs have now hatched and yesterday I watched her and her mate feeding the hatchlings – so sweet, but like your nest, it’s not going to be easy to take their pictures. We have had such rainy and gloomy weather, and more is on the way, so these few sunny days are really to be savored. Yesterday I discovered this park has three gosling families – they are so big already!

I took quite a few yesterday Rebecca and I hope to winnow down the photos and do that post over the weekend, but this morning I went to a bigger park to photograph ducklings (no ducks or ducklings there – a big surprise for Heritage Park). I found a Canada Goose family with seven goslings. They were very sweet … I may do that post first … torn now plus a stormy evening coming tonight (and weekend). It is such a treat to see the youngsters interacting with their parents. Gives me a smile every time I see it.

Thanks for the link Rebecca – that is in a park here in Michigan. I was going to post the link in a blog post as it is the cutest story. I sent it to Wayne of Tofino Photograph (I know you follow him as well) because he has a friend who is very interested in birding and I knew his friend might be interested in how the Sandhill Crane parents have adopted this gosling. She is also on Twitter giving updates and an Audubon story was written – did you see it on her website? She feeds the woodpeckers and red-winged blackbirds from her open palm (a little scary to do that). Thanksagain for the link – amazing you heard about her in Tennessee … https://www.audubon.org/news/this-sandhill-crane-couple-adopted-baby-goose#disqus_thread

I’m betting this story will make the rounds on the internet thanks to the Audubon story as well. The latest pictures she posted of the two sets of parents’ legs and the now tall and gangly colt next to the waddling gosling are so precious. I’m enjoying following them. Animals are so amazing indeed. I am amazed how quickly they grow up. I am following the goslings in the Park and in the space of a week they are more than twice their size. We have a very rainy morning, so I won’t see them today. All the critters only come out in the morning.

Miss Linda………………………those pictures are just adorable of the Robin and squirrels…………………………you sure know how to take close-up pictures very well…………………Swans always make us look twice, don’t they…………………..it’s their majestic appearance

Thanks Ann Marie. I was lucky to have a bright and sunny day, kind of like yesterday was … I think all the critters were out that day. Yesterday was nice and I saw a GBH … a smaller one, not Harry, because he always takes off when he sees me. This one may have been younger and didn’t know to fear a human yet. I watched him for the longest time, as he eyed the water … I had hoped to see him get a fish, but no luck – oh well, there will be other fishing days and catch-of-the-days to capture. The swans do make us look twice with their grace and beauty and their size. I feel lucky I had such a great view of him.

Aw, I love how you saved the Robin eggs (that day at least). Birds can be so mean to each other, can’t they? The shadow photos are great to see, that means the SUN was shining for you finally! The swan photos are gorgeous, too. I can see why you love visiting that area – so much to see and you bring the critters much joy – just like us when you share your adventures.

It is such a small venue to give so much joy. Some days it is just squirrels, but then others … just wow. The sunlight filtered through the trees and lit up the area, not a lot, but you can see the hatchlings’ open mouths and food in the parent’s mouth – very touching to see. That blackbirds kept repeatedly attacking the goose – I didn’t get that at all, nor the robin. Last year, a robin attacked a squirrel. He happened to rush past the robin to come over to see me. He ran away and the robin went airborne, then swooped down and pecked the squirrel who ran up a tree and refused to come back to the path again. They are very mean. Years ago we had a blue jay attack a man and he was bleeding from the head (he was bald) and EMS had to be called as he fell on the ground, the bird was pecking him so badly.

A couple years ago we spotted a red winged black bird riding on the back of a deer in our field. I got a couple photos from a distance. Then Trooper spotted the deer and chased it off, the bird started diving at Troopers back. It was quite amusing. The bird never touched Trooper and Trooper never saw it.
The swan pictures are beautiful.

Those red-winged blackbirds are spunky and full of attitude. At the Park they rule the path as they strut around with as much attitude as the geese! They really give me a laugh sometimes with their pushy behavior, but I didn’t like when they attacked the robin’s nest to steal the eggs, then the babies.

That you Bernice. I like to do the posts to tell the story as I went along on the walk and my encounters with the critters. There are many squirrels at this park and they are all friendly. That squirrel was so funny – they often do stand on their haunches to see what is going on, but I’ve never seen one standing like that and for that long. He kept standing there like he was waiting for the bus on the street corner!

Thank you Sabine – that swan sure was beautiful and not minding me in the least while I watched it and took its picture many times over. Amazing how the temps drop like a rock like that – it was a tad early for 91 degrees but the rain is no fun either. We had three days in a row that were beautiful so I seized the opportunity to get out and take lots of pictures and bulk up my miles. We had heavy rain this morning, but it cleared up this afternoon, so I walked, but not at a park – too late to see any critters. They return to their nests by mid-morning from what I could see of their habits. We have a few bouts of severe weather tomorrow which I’m hoping fizzles before it gets here … I am a weather worrier and they’ve been talking about these storms for 3 days now.

I’m crossing my fingers for you, Linda! May the weather fizzle out before it gets to your neighborhood. I must admit though that it sure seems like there are a lot more severe storms across the country than there used to be. Anyway, have fun getting out when you can! 😊

Yes this new norm for weather is too erratic to my liking – there were 12 states yesterday under severe weather warnings with tornadic conditions, and the weather has been dicey here in Michigan today. I went to Elizabeth Park where the bridge is that you liked. It was quite lackluster today. The sun faded shortly after I arrived and I didn’t wear boots as there are paved pathways, a road perimeter path around the entire path and the boardwalk. The sidewalks were covered in water and the grass was spongy with water. Our torrential rain will flood more parks this week with rainy weather all week. I was looking for ducklings as they have lots of ducks there too, just a handful of ducks, no ducklings … no critters at all, not even geese.